The present invention relates to lasers, and particularly to high-power flowing-gas lasers.
There has been considerable activity in recent years to produce high-power flowing-gas lasers for use particularly in the metalworking industries. Examples of some of the known lasers of this type are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,641,457; 3,702,973; 3,886,481; 4,058,778; 4,317,090; and 4,321,558. One of the main problems in the design of such high-power lasers is the dissipation of the heat, since power lasers cannot operate efficiently at unduly high temperatures. For example, the CO.sub.2 laser, which is the one mainly used today for high power applications, cannot operate efficiently at temperatures much above 200.degree. C. While the heat dissipation, and therefore the power output, can both be increased by increasing the length of the laser channel, this entails a considerable increase in the size and cost of the laser.
One object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a novel high-power flowing-gas laser which maximizes the power output capability of the laser for a given system size, and which also reduces optical disturbances and other disturbances affecting the stability of the electrical discharge producing the population inversion in the laser gas.